Suspect dead after explosions, fire

SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. — A 21-year-old man is dead following two explosions at a county office in a community just east of Edmonton, police said Wednesday.

Emergency crews were called to reports of a fire on Tuesday night at a complex that houses the Strathcona County office, council chambers and the town library in Sherwood Park, said RCMP Supt. Dave Kalist.

Kalist said there was an explosion in the building’s underground parkade, which prompted an evacuation. A male suspect — whom Kalist wouldn’t name — was found in a vehicle in the parkade and was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Kalist wouldn’t say how the man died, but added police were not involved in his death.

A nearby senior’s centre was evacuated. The community centre and library inside the complex, as well as two nearby schools and a performing arts centre, were closed Wednesday as police conducted their investigation.